Father Joseph Gerard Vetter, a retired priest of the Diocese of Raleigh, died Monday, May 7 in Durham. He was 71. Father Vetter, who was best known as Father Joe and signed most of his communication simply as “Joe,” was ordained to the priesthood March 26, 1973 at Annunciation Church in Havelock. In his vocation, he served the Lord through his work in campus ministry, parishes, hospital ministry and communications. “He was a good man and a good priest. I don’t think he would have wanted to be remembered… Read More
Bishop Luis Rafael Zarama of the Diocese of Raleigh and Bishop Peter J. Jugis of the Diocese of Charlotte issued a letter reminding the more than one million Catholic faithful in North Carolina of the positions of the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) on immigration policies and principles formed by Catholic social teaching and encouraging additional personal reflection and formation on these issues. Read the letter: English (PDF) | Spanish (PDF)
On Saturday, April 29th, volunteers from Work on Wilmington generously gave of their time to build and plant a Food Pantry Garden for the Catholic Charities Cape Fear office. Work On Wilmington is organized each year by the current class of Leadership Wilmington. Leadership Wilmington is a ten-month program to educate, challenge, and motivate leaders and future leaders for the betterment of the community. Work on Wilmington brings people together to roll up their sleeves and tackle community problems in just four hours. “The results today are amazing,” shared Ms…. Read More
Friends and families gathered at Catholic Parish Outreach Food Pantry in Raleigh on Saturday, April 21st for the 5th Annual Pig Picking and Open House. The event which lasted from 4 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. welcomed over 450 people to the largest food pantry in eastern North Carolina. Attendees were first treated to a tour of the 15,000 sq. ft. facility which includes space to interview clients and the warehouse that stores the 2.8 million pounds of food distributed annually from Catholic Parish Outreach. “We get to serve pork, hot… Read More
Para Español Last Thursday April 20th, Centro para Familias Hispanas held its second annual “Reunion de Amigos” at their facility located on 2013 N. Raleigh Blvd in Raleigh, NC. About 60 people attended the event with representatives from different partner organizations such as Wake Tech Community College, Wake County Public School System Preschool services, Children’s Developmental Services Agency, Wells Fargo, Mil Mujeres, Venezuela para Ti, members of the Centro para Familias Resource Development Committee. “It was great to see so many new faces and friends of the center,” Ms. Maty… Read More
On Sunday April 15th, a combination of youth groups from various churches around Wilmington came together for the Be the Light event. Be the Light hosts several projects each year and chose Catholic Charities as the beneficiary of their spring event. At the two hour event held at the Pine Valley Baptist Church, youth put together birthday bags for the Capes and Tiaras Birthday club program where children in poverty get a toy and all of the necessary items to have a cake on their special day. During this fun… Read More
The Durham community is next in line to host The Sunday Supper, this time in support of the Catholic Charites’ planned $1.7 million Durham Community Food Pantry and other efforts to address food insecurity in the community. A meal featuring selections from some of the best of local Durham vendors is planned along with live music and a community table that will seat 750 people. The supper is planned for Sunday, April 29 from 12-3 p.m. at the American Tobacco Campus Amphitheater. Tickets are on sale now through www.SundaySupperDurham.com. The… Read More
Para Español It’s been nearly ten years since Teresa and Carlos Mendoza decided to emigrate from Colombia to the United States. Chicago was their first home. They first arrived in 2009 as legal permanent residents and settled in the Illinois city because he had two sisters there. After experiencing the harsh Chicago winter, though, they decided to find a warmer environment and moved to North Carolina, where he had three older sisters. For the Mendozas, the question of “Where is home?” has always centered on family. In fact, the main… Read More
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Raleigh is excited to announce that beginning in the Spring of 2018, clinical counseling services will be available from St. Ann Catholic Parish in Clayton, NC for the Newton Grove Deanery. “We are constantly talking with our parish partners to understand the needs of the community.” Ms. Wanda Collazo, Newton Grove Regional Director, explained. “When local pastors approached us with a need for clinical counseling, we worked with them to identify a path to providing that service.” The plan is to have a professionally-trained… Read More
The holiday season can be a challenging time for families living in poverty. During this season of joy, many families don’t have the resources to have even a few special gifts for their children under the tree on Christmas morning. Through the generosity of the community, Catholic Charities offices across the Diocese of Raleigh can help make the Christmas holiday a little more special for families. This year in the Albemarle Deanery, over 80 families received Christmas presents through the Catholic Charities Christmas program. Planning for this program begins in… Read More
